


Noogler

by NatureThing



Category: The Internship (2013)
Genre: F/M, Language, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2020-12-07 10:02:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20974067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatureThing/pseuds/NatureThing
Summary: Sophia White has been accepted as an intern for Google. When the time comes to choose teams, she finds herself among the outcasts. Unfortunately, even her own teammates don't want each other. With the promise of only one team being accepted as full-time employees, they'll have to work together or fail before the program even ends.





	1. Welcome to Google

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my Internship fic. This story has been in my head for the last few months, so I figured it was time it saw the light of day. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Internship, its story, plot, or characters. I only own my OFC and any characters mentioned who are not canon.

Sophia White never thought that something as amazing as this would ever happen to her in a million years. And yet here she was. Standing outside of the bus that had dropped her off, she stared at _the_ Google headquarters. It was a massive, colorful, and breath-taking building - like something that she would have drawn as a kid.

To be honest, Sophia didn't know that such a place existed four months ago. She knew her cousin, April, worked for them. In all honesty, Sophia thought that April worked in a regular office you could find most anywhere. Now that she was here, it finally clicked that she had been wrong.

If it wasn't for her now most favorite person in the world, she wouldn't even be here. Instead, she would still be in Oregon with her parents, looking for a company that would be willing to hire her.

It was during their family Christmas party that April heard that Sophia was looking for a job. Her cousin then informed her about the summer internship Google held. If they were impressed by her work, she could be hired on as a full-time employee once the program ended.

It seemed too good to be true, but April had captured Sophia's attention.

Long story short, Sophia applied when it was available. She made it through her interview via Skype, got accepted, and the rest was history.

Sophia practically jumped out of her skin when someone said in annoyance, "Hey, are you going to move, or what?"

Blushing, Sophia shifted the strap of her side bag and made her way towards the entrance.

On her way down the main path, Sophia noticed all the quirky things she'd never seen before. She saw a car that didn't need to be driven and even a bike-like mobile that looked like a toy she use to play on during recess. Everything she saw left her so awestruck that she almost bumped into those passing her on the path.

Once inside, Sophia's eyes and open mouth became even wider as she took in her surroundings. The room was open and full of light. It gave it a normal business vibe, but everything else was so different in contrast. People were busy hustling and bustling about - some on foot and some on scooter. A plane hung from the ceiling and a giant slide that should have been in a McDonald's Playland was near the stairs.

It felt like she was in an interactive museum for young-at-heart grown ups.

_Lord, please let them hire me,_ prayed Sophia, blue eyes gazing up at the white ceiling.

Glancing around the room, Sophia noticed a café. Smiling, Sophia made her way to her new destination for a quick breakfast. When it was her turn to order, Sophia said, "May I have an iced mocha and a blueberry muffin, please?"

"Sure," said the boy behind the counter. He gave Sophia a quick grin before telling the others what she'd requested. When the food was in hand, the boy handed it to her. "Here's your order."

"Wait, what's the price?" asked Sophia as she began to search her bag for her well-worn wallet.

"I'm sorry?"

"Money. How much money do I have to pay you?"

"Oh, everything's free," replied the boy.

"Really?" asked Sophia, not believing what she'd heard.

"Your food's free. Everything's free."

_Free. Everything._

Oh, how Sophia loved hearing those two words.

Taking her coffee and pastry, Sophia gave a beaming grin. "This is perfect! Thank you."

"No problem."

As Sophia left, she sent out another prayer. _Please, oh, please, let them hire me!_

* * *

Standing in the room she was directed to, Sophia found herself looking out into a sea of young adults like her. Wanting to get to know people a little more, Sophia went up to the first group of people she saw.

"Hi," said Sophia, interrupting the group of four's conversation. "I'm Sophia White."

They continued to stare at Sophia as she shifted her gaze between them.

_This is more awkward than I expected._

Sophia began to play with the propeller hat she had been given when she'd checked in. "Aren't these things cool? My brother had one when he was little. I use to take it from him all the time."

"They're ridiculous. I don't want to wear mine," said a dark-haired girl, hazel eyes full of annoyance.

"Oh. Well, I thought that everyone liked them."

"Not everyone has the same interests," said a tall, blonde male.

"Of course not. No one likes a cookie cutter, right?"

When no one answered, Sophia felt defeated. Resisting a sigh, Sophia grinned at the unwelcoming group. "Nice talking to you guys." Turning away from her failed attempt to get to know people, Sophia made a beeline for the floor.

_Well, that was a total success,_ Sophia sarcastically thought.

Upon reaching the ground, she noticed two men in the middle of a conversation by the coffee table. By the looks of it, they were old enough to be her uncles standing by the coffee table.

Should she or should she not? The last time she tried to have a chat she was treated like a brat who wanted to know what the big kids were talking about. That was the last thing she wanted to experience.

After a moment's hesitation, Sophia took a deep breath and strolled up to the duo. "Hello!" she cheerfully said, gaining the attention of both men. "I'm, uh, an intern." Sophia glanced at the hats which sat upon their heads, both identical to hers. "Guess you're interns, too."

One of the men, the blonde one, turned to the taller male and said, "See?! We're too old for this. These kids think we run this program!"

The blonde's friend, who was giving him a look which read, 'patience, grasshopper' said, "Give it time. We're just as new to them as they are to us." Looking now at Sophia, the tall one gave her a small smile. "We had an incident shortly before you arrived."

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to. . . ." Sophia took a breath in, then let it out. "If you think I'm trying to brown-nose you, I'm not. I just saw you and figured the two of you were nice enough to share a conversation with."

As Sophia turned to leave, one of them stopped her with, "It's fine. We're just as lost as you are, actually." When Sophia faced them again, the one who spoke said, "I'm Nick, and this is my friend, Billy."

Sophia, relieved that someone was actually talking to her, smiled. "My name's Sophia."

"Sophia. Wow," said Billy, grabbing ahold of her hand in a firm, yet loose, grip and shook it. "It's great to meet you. How long have you been here?"

It was amazing. Billy had made her feel completely comfortable and less nervous about the internship. She felt like she was being welcomed by a friend. Feeling relaxed, Sophia gave her answer. "Not long. Ten, fifteen minutes at most. You?"

"About the same," said Nick.

"Everyone. Please take a seat," called a heavily accented voice, putting an end to any and all conversation.

Once the interns had found a place to sit and had quieted down, the man continued speaking. "My name is Roger Chetty, and I am head of the Google Intern Program. Welcome to Google. This will not be your average internship." Well, obviously. Few businesses were like a children's amusement park. "Oh, no. _You_ will do what we do. And _we_ will watch how well you do it."

Sophia had to suppress a spurt of laughter. To cover it up, she placed a closed fist in front of her mouth and bit her lip to hide an amused grin. She needed to get her head out of the gutter if she wanted to focus.

"Now, you represent the finest schools."

_Yeah! Go, UO!_

"Your intelligence, your achievements is well noted. But to excel in this internship you're going to need far more than brain power. What you're going to need. . . is googliness."

The room roared with laughter.

_Googliness._

Sophia was going to have to use that more often in her daily vocab.

"Nothing funny," Mr. Chetty said, tone and appearance serious, strict.

That shut everyone up.

"_Googliness:_ the intangible stuff that made a search engine into an engine for change. Now, you'll be divided into teams. By the end of the summer, only one team," - Mr. Chetty held up a finger, adding emphasis to the statement. Sophia held her breath - "will be guaranteed a full-time position. The other ninety-five percent of you will not.

"Now, you've been split up into several seminars to acquaint you with our temperance. The seminar descriptions have been e-mailed to each of you. I would wish you luck, but it's not luck that you'll need. Get to work!"

With that, the interns pulled out their phones before departing the room like it had been set on fire. Sophia, preferring to wait until the crowd had dispersed, awaited her turn. She checked her e-mail as she did so. As promised, the seminar descriptions had been sent. She did a quick scan of the email before getting up and taking the next few steps into the next chapter of her life.

* * *

The first seminar Sophia went to was one of the most embarrassing experiences of her life.

It all started when the two men, Billy and Nick, she'd talked to earlier entered the small room. When she knew that they had seen her, Sophia gave them a small wave and a friendly smile before looking ahead. Sophia sighed in relief when Mr. Chetty, the leader of the seminar, got up from his place and began the session.

"Now, I recognize Google is not a conventional work place. Having said that, we have rules. I'm going to ask you a series of questions. You're going to raise the green paddle for 'yes,' and the red paddle for 'no.'"

_Okay. Seems simple enough._

"So, let's begin." Mr. Chetty hit a button on the remote he held in his hand. The screen, which read Workplace Seminar, faded away to reveal the first question. "Having a beer with your boss?"

_Hells, yeah._

Sophia raised her green paddle. The look she received from Mr. Chetty told her otherwise. After blinking her eyes, Sophia looked around the room. The other interns were holding up the red paddle. . . . Well, every one except two (not including Sophia).

"Some of you," - Mr. Chetty nodded his head towards Billy and Nick - "are under twenty-one. While one of you," - he now referred to Sophia - "is a bit behind in their social skills."

While Sophia bit her lip, Billy decided that now was the time to speak up. "Some of us aren't under twenty-one. So, if you want to grab a cold one with me, we can do that."

"I will not be grabbing a 'cold one' with you."

"Get high?"

"I don't get high."

"Okay. I'm not judging, I'm just saying people do it. Like Miss Sophia over there."

Sophia felt everyone staring at her.

"Yes. Well, obviously 'Miss Sophia' is disconnected from the modern world. Now, next question." Mr. Chetty pressed the same button he used for the previous question. "Dating a fellow intern?"

Sophia, having already seen some interns that she felt attracted to, held up her green paddle. She didn't have to look to know she'd chosen the complete opposite of what she should have. The young woman felt blood rush up to her cheeks.

"This is _Google_. Not Match dot-com."

"Chetty?" said Nick, stopping him from moving on to the next slide.

As he asked if members of the Google staff were off limit or not, Sophia couldn't help but hide her face in her palm. Yes, she stood by her answers and what she believed, but dang, this was just a nightmare. How was she going to get a job if she didn't understand the company's policies? And, more importantly, since when was it not acceptable to hang out with your boss on occasion? Oh, right. Since now.

"Now," said Mr. Chetty, bringing Sophia back to reality. "Taking food home from the office?"

Green. Nope. Should have went with red.

"I expect Mr. McMahon and Mr. Campbell to have some difficulties, Miss White. But you?" Mr. Chetty stood in front on Sophia, close, but not too close for comfort. "Are you having problems?"

"Um, no, sir. I'm just. . . . Slowly learning what the rules are. And a little confused."

"Confused, how?"

"Well, uh, I don't see what's so bad about dating a fellow worker or taking something home, like a cookie."

"Let me elaborate this for you, Miss White. If you don't learn our company's rules as soon as possible, it's possible that you might not earn a position here. Have I been perfectly clear?"

Sophia, who knew that everyone was watching her for sure, brought her eyes to her lap. In response, she held up the red paddle she'd been given minutes ago.

"Good." Looking at the row where Billy and Nick sat, Mr. Chetty asked, "Is it clear to both of you, as well?"

In response, both of them followed Sophia's lead and held up their red paddles.

"Very good. Ladies and gentlemen, that is all."

More than ready to leave, Sophia grabbed her things and booked it for the exit. This day, which had started off so great, was slowly becoming one of the worst days of her short young adult life.


	2. Team Lyle

"_So, tell me how it went._"

"I'd really rather not talk about it, Mom," replied Sophia as she attempted to put toothpaste on her toothbrush.

With her cell held between an ear and shoulder, tongue sticking out, the task proved to be rather tricky.

"_Oh, no. Want to tell me what happened?_" asked Mom, tone full of concern.

"Not really, no," said Sophia, mouth full of paste.

She spat into the sink, rinsed her mouth, then wiped her face.

"_Sophia. Do you _really_ have to brush your teeth while talking to me?_" Her voice was heavily laced with disgust, not approving of Sophia's decisions.

The young adult rolled her eyes. "Of course not, _Mother._ Why would I _ever_ do such a thing to someone as sweet and innocent as you?"

As she pulled her electric blue and hot pink hair into a messy bun, her mother warned, "_Don't use that attitude with me._"

"Sorry. Long, frustrating day," Sophia apologized.

When she padded her way across the wooden floor to her bed, she heard her mother give a great and heavy sigh.

"_No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yipped at you._" Sophia heard her mom readjust her hold on the phone she was using. "_You sure you don't want to talk about your day? I promise I won't tell anyone._"

A groan came from Sophia's bed springs when she plopped down upon it, legs crossed. "Well. . . I, um, no one seems to like me. I might have also made a bad first impression with basically everyone there."

"_What could you have possibly done to leave a 'bad' first impression on your fellow interns and workers?_"

"By being me," answered Sophia, mater-of-factly, not missing a single beat.

Sophia could picture her mother's face as it twisted in confusion as she asked, "_What's so bad about being you, Soph?_"

"Not everyone can handle me, Mom. Sometimes even you can't handle me. Come to think of it, neither can I," said Sophia as she rubbed her hand on the back of her head.

It was true. Her personality and tastes had always been more than most could handle. Like how she'd draw a bowtie wearing chipmunk on every piece of paper she found or how she'd dance in public whenever it rained.

"_Oh, honey. You're right. You _are_ a handful, but I love you just the way you are. If no one else at Google sees how amazing of a woman you are, it's their loss. The company would be lucky to have you._"

The corner of Sophia's lips began to twitch into a grin. Her mom was amazing, and her little pep talk was more than needed. . . . But Sophia knew that it would take more than a nose piercing and a different output on life for Google to hire her.

"Thanks, Mom." Glancing at the time, Sophia said, "It's getting late. I think I'm going to settle in for the night. Talk to you later?"

"_Of course. Love you, sweetheart._"

"Love you, too."

And with that, she hung up.

Dropping her cell next to her thigh, Sophia laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. She knew her mother meant well. Even though they didn't have as much of an effect on Sophia as Mom had intended, the words she'd used encouraged her. . . sort of.

_What am I doing here? Why did I ever think I could do this?_

Releasing a sigh, Sophia turned off the lights, rolled onto her side, and tightly closed her eyes. She was more than ready to surrender to temporary death.

* * *

The following day, Sophia didn't bother to even think about talking to people. Instead, she found a corner seat where she managed to successfully hide away. Her plan was to appear shut-off, uninterested. Luckily for her, no one seemed to care or even notice her as she read the book she had taken out.

_Good._

Even though it killed her, Sophia knew that she wasn't the one that people would think of when it was time to form teams. Back home, she was usually among the final few who would be chosen during gym class. Few people thought she was worth their time, either. But, then again, after years of rejection, Sophia was kind of use to it.

People soon began to file in. Almost immediately, those around her struck up a conversation with each other. No doubt connecting with the interns they'd met the previous day. All the while, Sophia sipped her orange juice, nibbled on her granola bar, and turned the page of her novel.

The sound of static drew in Sophia's attention. Glancing towards the front of the room, the young woman noticed a tall man wearing a red polo. A microphone was in his hand, his face beaming with an excited smile as he asked everyone to take a seat. Sophia closed her book and carefully slid it back into her bag. She then placed her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on top of her palms as she waited for him to continue speaking.

"Welcome to day two! I am Sid, eight year googler, and _you_ guys are new googlers, thus you're _nooglers_!"

Unlike Mr. Chetty, Sid laughed with the interns. Sophia liked him way more than she did Mr. Chetty.

"Okay. Now, this place is all about community and collaboration, so you'll be working in teams from here on out."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an annoyed Mr. Robert Chetty left his seat, snatching the mic out of Sid's hold. Sophia's eyebrows dropped downwards. She disliked Mr. Chetty even more with each passing second.

"You have five minutes. Pick your teams," he told the interns, sending them into a flurry.

Sophia watched as her peers hurried to find groups, eager to find people they liked. But they were even more desperate to not be picked last. No one liked being among the unwanted. The twenty-one-year-old didn't want it to come to that, but she knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up. No one wanted to be around her yesterday (other than Billy and Nick, and they only talked to her for a minute or two).

Slinging her bag on to her shoulder, Sophia began the search. Though she asked anyone she crossed paths with if they wanted to team up, she received many refusals. As expected, they all declined. Before she knew it, everyone had found their own teams, leaving Sophia and five other people on their own.

Sophia titled her head. Does this mean that these people, these misfits, were her teammates?

Gathering what courage she had, Sophia wandered up to the girl who sat alone. The girl's face was downcast, her feet swinging back-and-forth as she kicked them.

"Hi. I'm Sophia," she said once she stood next to the girl. "Couldn't find a group, either?"

The girl, who looked like she was sweet, gave Sophia the once over, face twisted in disgust. "Seriously? I have to be a part of _your_ team?"

Sophia's face fell. Well, so much for that.

Not wanting to deal with the girl's attitude, Sophia moved to the end of the long bench and plopped down upon it. This was just perfect. If the people who were left out didn't want her, what chance did she have at making it?

As she rubbed her face with her hands, Sophia heard someone a little older than her say, "Correction. You didn't have a team, _but you got one now, son._ 'Cause I got a few outliers. _Kerbam! Kerplash! Zhyah! Zhow!_ And we about to get all good up in this hood, right?"

Sophia brought her face away from her palms. As thought, the boy who'd spoken looked about two or three years older than her.

_He's trying too hard._

Was this the mentor she'd have to deal with all summer? Probably, considering he was talking to Billy and Nick. Like her and the other three, they didn't appear to be part of a team.

"But let's get a team meeting going, everybody!" he exclaimed, cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Come on! Team meeting time! Wonder twin powers activate!"

Taking this as the signal to follow him, Sophia got up from her seat, taking long strides to catch up to him.

* * *

Excess pillows always annoyed Sophia like no one's business. When she was little, her mom would find her taking pillows off of furniture if there was more than two on said object. Needless to say, it led to a lot of interesting situations with store managers. So when the couch she was about to sit on held four pillows, a part of her twitched at the sight that met her eyes.

The wheels in Sophia's brain turned as she took off the extra pillows and placed them beneath the red sofa.

Those who were already in the room gave Sophia weird looks, but she didn't mind. She'd rather be focused on the task at hand something as stupid as far too many pillows for her taste.

Once set, Sophia plopped down upon her seat, her posture lose and relaxed. On her right sat a boy who wore a beanie and a pair of thick, black glasses. He held a cell phone in his large hand, attention totally focused on the tiny machine. In front of Sophia sat Billy, Nick at his right. Both men were talking about what had happened and how they should handle the situation they were in. Luckily, the girl Sophia had tried talking to earlier sat in a chair far away from her. Another boy, who was of Asian descent, sat opposite of the girl. The poor kid looked nervous out of his wits.

Thankfully, their leader entered the room before the atmosphere became even more awkward.

"Alright. Let's get some meeting, greeting up in this cheesy. I'm Lyle, and it's pretty much wizzywig. What you see is what you get. Been here at the Goog for. . . four years, working on. . . seven progies in estomomento."

Yep. Sophia was going to stand by her theory: Lyle was trying too hard.

"Wow. _Seven_ projects?" said Nick, truly amazed by Lyle's words.

"Yep. They asks and I dos it. What can I say? I'm a people pleaser, especially with the ladies. So, it's all good in Lyle's hood, y'all. Word?"

"Ah, yeah. Is Lyle always going to be referring to himself in the third person? 'Cause if he is, I'm going to punch Lyle in the face," said the boy who sat next to Sophia.

"Okay. Tough, but fair. Good note. Lyle's still a little nervous. Sh- Lyle's a first time manager. . . . I'm going to stop doing that," vowed Lyle. "Going to cut it out. Keep it to first and second person." After clapping his hands together, Lyle said, "Okay. Who's next?"

As Lyle took a seat, the guy across from the girl stood from his seat to introduce himself. He raised his hand in greeting before continuing on. "My name is Yo-Yo Santos."

"Yo-Yo. How about a high-five!" When Billy raised his hand to get some skin, Yo-Yo flinched, as if he thought the older man would hit him. "Whoa!" said Billy and Nick in unison. "Yo, Yo-Yo, buddy. I come in peace," promised Billy.

"Yo-Yo. Did you get beat up a lot in school?" asked Nick, tone full of concern and sincerity.

"I was home-schooled by my mom," admitted Yo-Yo.

"Did you get beat up a lot in home-school?" asked Billy.

"Well, discipline is an important part of growth. But my mother was actually very nurturing," explained Yo-Yo. "For example, she use to provide me the milk of her bosom until I was seven years old."

At this fact, Sophia's eyes bulged out of her head.

_Seven?_

Her mom had weaned her off of breast milk around age one. Seven was a bit extreme in Sophia's book.

"So, it's like, uh, you're tying your shoe, you're climbing trees, you're blowing up fireworks you got. And then you're right on mom; you've got mouth on mom?"

"Breast feeding leads to a higher I.Q."

"Okay," said Billy, nodding his head, ready to drop the subject and move on.

"Actually, the science isn't quite definitive on that," said Nick. "I was bottle fed, and it never slowed me down. Vitamins are vitamins whether they come from a teat or a baba."

"Wrong," said Beanie Boy without looking away from his cell.

"Sorry. What was that?" asked Nick, not sure if he'd heard Beanie Boy correctly or not.

Beanie Boy tore his eyes away from his phone to look at Nick. "The 'teat or baba' thing, it's wrong. I just Googled it, so it's wrong."

When he noticed that the other occupants of the room were now staring at him, Beanie Boy said, "Oh, yeah. I'm Stuart."

"Oh, pleasure to meet you, Stuart. But you can't trust everything you read on the-"

"The _Journal of the American Medical Association_? It sounds pretty trustworthy. It says that breast milk has more nutrients. And that those nutrients are more easily digested and absorbed," was Stuart's response. "You know, your confusion is understandable since you were bottle fed."

_Ouch. Major burn._

"He's right. That's right," agreed Yo-Yo, satisfied.

"Whoa! Guys. Where's all this hostility coming from?" asked Billy, trying to figure out what the problem was.

"From the deepest and darkest pits of their hearts," replied Sophia as she examined her nails.

"Where do you think, you freaks? Two-sixths of our team are two old guys who don't know shit and one of us looks like she lives in Hot Topic."

"_Excuse_ me? At least I'm not being a-"

"Okay! Who's next?" chirped Lyle, interrupting the argument brewing between Stuart and Sophia.

As the other girl got up to speak, Stuart and Sophia continued to glare at each other. It was then, with eyes narrowed, that a hostile tension settled around them like an electric storm.

"Well, I for one am very happy to have. . . two, strapping, mature gentlemen on our team," said the girl, earning a 'thank you' from Nick. "Oh, I'm, ah, Neha Patel. And oh, my god, you two would make the _best_ Luke and Han."

"Excuse me?" said a confused Nick.

His response to Neha's statement was enough to bring Sophia out of the staring contest she was in the middle of. "You don't know who they are?" asked Sophia, shocked.

"No. Should we?"

"Um, yeah. Considering they're two of the most important characters in _Star Wars._ I thought you'd know who they are, considering the movie came out around your time. You know, Yoda, Darth Vader, R2D2, lightsabers. Ring any bells?"

"Sorry. No."

Sophia shook her head. She had pity for the poor fools. "Teach you, I must," Sophia said, giving the best Yoda imitation she could muster.

This earned an amused chuckle from Lyle.

"I was actually thinking along the line of cosplay," said Neha, trying to earn back his attention.

"Cosplay?" asked Billy.

"Costume play. It's when you dress up as characters from your favorite show, comic book, movie. Basically anything you can think of. It's really popular for conventions. Like Comic-Con and LeakyCon," explained Sophia, earning a death glare from Neha. Sophia sent one that read, 'what's your issue?'

"But work-wise, your 'skills' aren't really relevant here or anywhere in this millennium. So, stay out of our way. We're going to do this shit on our own." And with that, Neha gave her best bitch-smile and sat down like a giddy little girl.

"Okay. I'm sorry that you're pissed you weren't picked by anyone, but gosh, Neha. Get over yourself. These 'old men' are on our team, too. They deserve to be treated as such, so get use to it," said Sophia, voice dripping with irritation.

If looks could kill, Sophia would be dead.

"And who are you, again?" she spat, eager to tear into Sophia's neck.

"Me? _I_ am Sophia White. Defender of old men and the one who holds the One Ring which rules all," answered Sophia, a cocky smirk on her face. As if to further prove her point, she held her right hand up in the air to display the cheap model One Ring she wore.

Everyone had different reactions to Sophia's statement. Some were amused, some unsure what to think, and at least one of them (Neha) looked like they wanted to smite her. Nick sent the young woman a look of thanks before introducing himself and Billy.

"Alright!" Lyle stood back on his feet and clapped his hands. "Team Lyle!" When no one gave him the response he was expecting, Lyle nodded his head. "We'll workshop that, it's in beta. Okie dokie. Our translate lecture is in fifteen minutes." Lyle clapped his hands together again, signaling the end of the meeting.

On the way out of the room, Stuart sent Sophia another stink eye before strutting out. Yo-Yo didn't even bother to glance her way. Billy and Nick thanked her once again, telling her that they'd see her around. Lyle - being Lyle - patted her on the back while enthusiastically saying 'go, team!' Neha, though, stood so close to her that their shoulders touched. She expected Neha to shove her, to knock her off-balance. Instead, she threatened, "If you ever say or do anything like that to me again, I _will_ destroy you."

Great. It was like high school all over again. The popular girls had always treated Sophia like dirt. It had even been made clear on many occasions that they didn't want her breathing the same air as them. At least, they _had_, until she. . . . But that was almost four years ago. Meeting another princess of the campus was starting to get on her nerves.

In response to Neha's threat, Sophia glanced at her from under her curtain of dyed hair and said, "Whatever." Before Neha could say anything else, Sophia picked up her pace and sped out of the room. She didn't stop until she reached her next destination.


	3. Challenge Number One

Waking up after a late night was never fun. Of course, Sophia knew it was her fault. She'd been so caught up in watching reruns of _Miami Ink_ that she didn't fall asleep until 2:30am.

So when her alarm blared "Pocket Full of Sunshine," she almost threw it against the walls. (Sophia made a note to herself to find a less annoying song to help get her up and moving). The only thing that made her almost human was a hot shower and a cup of coffee, courtesy of Google.

It had taken a considerable amount of time, but Sophia finally managed to drag her feet to Google. The intern rubbed a palm against her eyes to help wake herself up, sitting down on the first chair she could find. When she walked into the room she was to meet her team in, she found Lyle, Yo-Yo, and Neha already seated.

"Hey! It's Sophia," said Lyle, walking up to the very exhausted woman. "What's shakin', bacon? You ready for another exciting day at the Goog?"

If he'd come up to her at any other time of the day, Sophia would have been more open, more forgiving. But, unfortunately, it was early in the morning, and she was so not in the mood. "Lyle. If you value your life, don't _talk_ to me, don't _look_ at me, and don't _touch_ me," she growled.

When Sophia and her brother were kids, he quickly learned not to mess with her until she was fully awake. He use to say that she was like a wild animal sitting in the corner of its den. If you wanted her to accept and warm up to you you'd have to wait for her to come to you. This was especially true during Sophia's teenage years.

Lyle, having not expected this kind of reaction, held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. I can wait." Luckily, Lyle turned and walked away, leaving Sophia alone.

If she was going to successfully perform the first challenge, they were going to have to give her time to wake up.

While her teammates talked, Sophia pensively sipped her espresso. Thoughts of the past week's events filled her foggy mind as they waited for others to arrive.

Even though a week had passed, no one made any improvements in getting along. In fact, it seemed to have gotten worse. Neha still held a childish grudge against Sophia, always managing to send glares her way. Sophia didn't blame her, but still. It was stupid that Neha had to be such a bitch about everything her time at Google had thrown at her. No one liked being unwanted, but here they were and here they'd stay until the end of summer.

Yo-Yo wasn't as shy or timid as Sophia had first expected, but he still wasn't as outgoing as the other members of his team. Stuart still remained in his own cyber world, never looking away from his cell for more than a few seconds. His attitude and sarcastic remarks were still as annoying and irritating as ever.

Nick and Billy still weren't having much luck in being accepted as full members of 'Team Lyle.' Sophia felt sorry for them. She knew it wasn't easy for people their age to find jobs, especially in this kind of field. But she couldn't put all the blame on the others. She hardly talked to Billy and Nick at all. The only times she really interacted with them was after a group seminar and, on occasion, during lunch.

The only person who tried to make an effort was Lyle. Bless his heart, he tried every day to bring the group together from ice breakers to even turning on an upbeat song. (Stuart put the latter to an end by shutting it off not even a second in to it.)

The only progress Sophia had made was being disliked by pretty much most of the other interns. Which, although disappointing, was not that surprising.

During the next twenty minutes, the other members - Billy, Nick, and Stuart - arrived. Unlike Stuart, who looked as exhausted as Sophia felt, they had an energetic attitude.

"Yeah! Let's get this show on the road!" exclaimed Billy.

Sophia's body tensed as she gasped in shock. "Don't. Touch. Me," she snarled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, come of, Miss Sophia. What's wrong with a little -" Billy's sentence cut off when he received an icy glare, warning him to back off. Right. This. Instant.

"Whoa! Whoa! It's okay. It's all good. No one has to lose their head," said Nick as he and Billy held their hands up in surrender.

Sophia, seeing that her message was received, turned and gazed at the cup she held. "Sorry. Just don't touch me until I'm awake ever again."

"Understood. Understood."

Not even a minute later, one of the main computers beeped, drawing the interns in like moths to light. Once positioned in front of the screen, Lyle clicked the button which opened the email. Mr. Chetty appeared on the screen, the words Debug the Code hovering above his head. He stood in front of a background that had many codes scrolling behind as he spoke, "Good-morning, interns. Today marks the start of several challenges. It is through these tasks that your teammates will show their merits. While documenting a product, some Googlers reported a bug which disabled their audio. All two-million lines of that cord are in the source files. You're job: find the bug."

The video closed, returning to the screen which was displayed before the message.

None of them wasted a second, immediately jumping in to the challenge given to them. The younger teammates each took a dry erase marker to begin to quickly write their notes the glass walls. Since this was Sophia's area of expertise, she felt comfortable with this challenge.

As Sophia and the others began writing down codes and theories, Billy and Nick began to ramble. . . . About things that were extremely irrelevant to what they were working on. Sophia knew that they were part of the team, too, but their chatter made it difficult to concentrate.

Finally, it got to the point where Sophia couldn't take it any longer. "STOP IT!" she screeched louder than she meant. Not only did it get the attention of everyone in the room but those who were outside of the room, too. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Sophia rubbed the back of her neck and turned to face Billy and Nick. "Listen. I'm glad you guys are trying to help, but holy shit. Your conversation and ideas have nothing to do with what we're trying to figure out. Like Lyle said, 'We're looking for a bug, not a password.'"

"Yeah. And that's a sharpie you're using, genius," added Stuart, tone dripping with aggravation.

Billy, who'd been writing down his and Nick's theories on a section of glass, looked at it, horrified. "Oh. That's my fault." Billy licked his thumb and began frantically rubbing the black ink, trying to get it off.

"That's not going to work, dude," said Sophia, shaking her head. "Okay, listen. To find and kill the bug, we need to scan the user logs and review the code until we find the programmer's mistake."

"It's the only way to figure this out," said Neha, agreeing with Sophia.

"But what if it's not the only way?" argued Billy, thinking that there was another way to tackle it. Nick pointed at Billy and said 'go,' sending his friend into a long and unnecessary explanation. "You said that someone programmed this. That means that some person in this building wrote that code."

"A human _being!_" exclaimed Nick, getting into Billy's theory.

"Let's give him a name and call him Tony."

"_Tony._"

"Let's just say that Tony likes to. . . kayak."

"_Kayak._"

"All a sudden, Nick and Tony become friends. They're throwing a few beers back, and we're doing some kayaking with my main man, Tony. They're out on the open water, and the next thing you know they're gabbing about audio bugs!"

_What the hell?!_

Sophia began to rub her temples, eyelids shut. This was not happening. Instead of trying to fix the problem, Billy and Nick talked about useless information. Even if they could find the programmer it would be too late to even talk with them.

"Actually, that's a great idea," said Stuart, as if he'd been blown away.

Sophia looked at Stuart, a look of confusion and frustration covering every inch of her face. "Um, I'm sorry. _What?_"

"Finally!" said Nick in relief, glad that someone finally agreed with them.

"Yeah! Dark and Stormy's feeling us," Billy exclaimed.

"Yeah. I'm feeling you big time, buddy," said Stuart.

"Perfect!"

"In fact, why don't the two of you guys, right now, go and find the programmer."

Oh. Now Sophia understood. Stuart was trying to get rid of them so they could continue working without any distractions.

"Right. Great idea. Who's our man?" asked Nick, ready to find out who their 'man' was.

"His name is. . . Charles Xavier," answered Yo-Yo.

Sophia raised an eyebrow. Wouldn't they know -

"Charles Xavier. Got it."

Nope. They don't.

"He's a professor at. . . Stanford," added Neha. "Yeah. Just a few minutes away, actually."

"Guys," said Lyle, trying to get his group to stop.

A part of Sophia felt glad that Lyle had a good heart, but another part of her wanted Billy and Nick to leave.

"_And_ he's in a wheelchair," said Stuart.

"Got it!" said Billy before he began repeating what he'd been given. "Stanford. Wheelchair. What else?"

All at once, Yo-Yo, Neha, and Stuart began talking over each. ("Oh! He's bald!" "Might be with his friend, who wears a metal helmet." "He's got a British accent.")

"British! My area. Let's go," said Nick as he left.

"Okay. Keep searching. Remember. Think 'fly.' Think 'bug.' I promise you this'll intersect with Goldblum," Billy reminded the group, following Nick.

Once they were out of sight, the younger interns got back to work. Sophia remained still, stunned by how they'd handled the situation. "You know, that was kind of mean, guys."

"Well, if you thought so, you should have said something," snapped Stuart.

Sophia opened her mouth to give a smart remark, but closed it when she realized he was right. Shaking her head, Sophia resumed her task. She needed to focus if she wanted her group to win.

* * *

Four. Freaking. Hours. Later. And they still hadn't figured out how to catch the audio bug.

Staring at her laptop's screen, Sophia tried to see if she could notice anything she might have missed. Nothing. Still nothing. Sophia groaned and leaned back in her chair, placing her hands over her eyes. How hard could it be to find something as simple as an audio bug? Her dad taught her to fix bugs before she could even talk!

"Yo to the yo. Where are we at?" Lyle asked Yo-Yo.

"Confirmed that there was no package lost. Almost been checking on whether the inscription has the wrong certificate," he reported.

"I'm sorry, _almost_?" said Neha in disbelief. "You're either done or you're not. You can't be 'almost' pregnant."

"Yeah. Hey, she would know, guys," said Stuart.

Neha, pissed at his remark, bumped up the attitude. "You know what? Why don't you Google 'asshole,' asshole."

"She's right. You're not doing good enough." Yo-Yo began picking at his eyebrows, flinching each time he managed to pull a hair out of his skin. "Get it together, Yo-Yo."

"Yo, dude. What are you doing? Stop pulling out your eyebrows," demanded Sophia.

If he didn't stop, he was going to end up looking like a naked cat.

"No! I'm punishing myself for my inferior performance."

"Infer. . . . Yo-Yo. You didn't do anything wrong. You're just a bit behind."

"Exactly why I must punish myself."

"Well, that's good. That's great. We've got crazy over here," Stuart pointed at Yo-Yo. "Crazy, midlife crisis mom over there," he motioned his hand towards Sophia. "And crazy-horny right here," he finished, nodding his head in Neha's direction.

Having none of Stuart's insults, Neha said, "Let me guess. Big dick, 'cause little dick?"

"Does your mind immediately go to a penis joke, or is that all the time?" Stuart fired back.

"Oh! Was that not witty enough for you, 'cause I'm too busy _working._"

"No, that's fine. I just want you to acknowledge the fact that I'm more capable."

"_That's_ what you're worried about right now?"

"Yes, that's what I'm _really_ worried about right now," was Stuart's sarcastic reply.

"You're more worried about snarky banter than you are about winning," said Neha, trying to get the last word.

"Well maybe I'm just -"

It was then Sophia noticed that: a.) Lyle looked beyond panicked and b.) Yo-Yo was still picking at his eyebrows.

"Enough!" she barked, gaining everyone's attention. "You two are so busy arguing about something that's super stupid that you've forgotten that we have a job to do. You're not the only ones whose jobs are at stake here. Now, let's find this bug, get rid of it, and win. Okay? Does that sound good?"

Instead of getting the response she wanted, her plan backfired when Stuart said, "Oh, so you're now in charge? That's great, you know, since you seem to have done _absolutely nothing._"

Now, instead of staying out of the fight, she was in it. "Excuse me? _I_ am an Information Technology major who has worked with computers since I was six. Don't you dare imply that I'm incapable of debugging a computer, you little -"

As if it were perfectly timed, the sound of a computer sharply dinging interrupted her. This was the only thing that managed to get everyone to stop fighting, drawing them from their desks. Already fearing the worst, the team waited for Lyle to open the message, breaths held.

Upon opening the message, Mr. Chetty appeared, the title of the challenge still above his head. "After hours of hard work, I would like to congratulate Mister Jefferson's group. They have managed to crack the code and illuminate the audio bug from our system. Do not think that just because your team won that you are guaranteed a place here at Google. To those of you who lost, figure out why you've failed and fix it before it's too late."

The screen went blank.

Sophia and her team continued to stare ahead, shocked and frustrated that they'd lost.

"Great. Just great. We lost. Good job, guys. If we keep this up, we're bound to not end up with a job," said Stuart, sarcastically.

And just like that, the dreary interns gathered their things before leaving. As the others left, Sophia remained where she stood.

She'd lost. They'd _all_ lost. If they had just stuck with the task they might have actually won.

Looking at Lyle, Sophia's face softened. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have gotten involved."

Lyle, who was taken out of his thoughts, looked at Sophia and shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine. It's cool. It's all good."

Sophia wasn't convinced. She was upset, everyone was, and so was Lyle. She opened her mouth to say something else but closed it, thinking carefully about her next words. She finally came up with, "Do you think it's time for lunch? I'm pretty much starved."

* * *

"Wait. You're, like, some kind of vegan?" said Stuart when Sophia answered a question Lyle had asked.

"Vegetarian. And no. I'll eat anything as long as no animal was harmed and/or killed," corrected Sophia as she began picking at her veggie salad.

Despite their argument earlier on, they'd calmed down enough to tolerate each other. Besides, they were stuck with each other until the end of the program. Might as well get use to each other, right?

As Neha began another conversation, two familiar shapes wandered up to their table.

"Hey! Did you guys find 'Professor Xavier'?" said Stuart, amusement filling his face.

"Yeah, we found him," Nick replied.

"Yeah. Thanks so much for that, though. That was really great team spirit," said Billy, not amused. "Mind sliding over here?"

As Billy went to sit in the empty place next to Stuart, he slid across the bench, taking up both places.

"I'm sorry. It doesn't look like there's really enough room for you," Yo-Yo 'apologized.'

Billy and Nick's faces dropped once they realized that their own team didn't want them to join.

"Have a great. . . lunch," said Nick.

"Yeah, see you around."

As the older men walked away, Sophia felt horrible. It really was like high school all over again, only this time she was back on the other end: the bullies. That thought alone was enough to send her blood boiling. Scrunching her face in anger, Sophia spat, "What the fuck is your problem, you guys?!"

"Isn't it obvious? They don't belong. Hell, they can't even crack a simple audio bug. How do you expect them to pull their own weight?" said Stuart, his voice full of hostility.

"Are you_ kidding_ me right now? Yeah, they were making it hard to focus earlier, but that doesn't mean they're any less valuable to the team."

"Well, you should have stopped them from going to meet 'Professor X,' then."

_Okay. That's it._

Banging the table with her fists (and ignoring the pain that met them), Sophia grabbed her tray and left. "You know what? You're all a bunch of dicks."

As Sophia rushed away, she heard Stuart fire back, "Look who's talking, douchewad."

Without looking over her shoulder, Sophia gave him the bird.

* * *

"Hey. Mind if I join you?" asked Sophia, having finally found Billy and Nick.

The two men gave her sarcastic looks as Nick said, "Oh, sure. Why not? If it'll help you ruin our chances at getting hired, then be our guest."

Sophia felt guilt grip at her heart. Stuart was right. She really _was_ a douchewad. As she sat down in the empty chair, Sophia began to apologize. "Look. I'm really sorry about how I treated you and Billy earlier. I was just. . . . Gah, I don't know. I was so focused on winning that I neglected to include or stand up for you. I really felt horrible. Honestly, I did. I promise I won't pull a move like that again. Just, please, don't look at me like that."

It took a moment or two, but the older men eventually gave in.

"Alright. We'll forgive you, Miss Sophia. But only this time," teased Billy.

Sophia let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Thanks." A serious look came over Sophia as she asked, "Do you guys seriously not know who Professor Xavier is?"

"If you're referring to the one we met, yes."

"And he was a total dick," added Billy.

Sophia grinned. "You really don't know who - Wait. You _actually_ found someone who looks like Professor X?"

Before either of them could respond, a small group of people passed by the table. A boy with dark hair and a British accent spoke for them. "Look at this! William. Nicholas. Person I don't know," he said, referring to the man on Sophia's left who was busy typing on his laptop. "And girl with a freakish appearance."

"Wow. Rude much?" said Sophia, arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the dark-haired man.

"Does it look like I care?" The boy looked at Billy, his eyes covered by a pair of huge, tinted sunglasses. "Figured I'd find you here at the cool kids table. Looks like a confederacy of outcasts here. Heard you and Nick here had a trip to Palo Alto, home of the Silicon Valley and also the X-Men, apparently."

"Where are you going with this, Graham?" asked Nick.

"Oh! I just wanted to let you guys know that _we_ won the bug challenge."

"Yes, good sir. We know. They announced it via video e-mail."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I miss that they here to help your team with the challenge?"

Sophia glared at Graham from underneath her eyelashes. "You know, you're so full of shit that I don't know if I should beat the snot out of you or slap that smirk right off of your face."

"You know, I'd feel worried for you if you actually had a good team, but you don't. Wanna know why? Because your 'team' sucks balls. Now, don't get me wrong, I actually want you to do good. It's just that you are so horrible. You're, like, the worst group of people I've ever seen in my whole life."

"I wouldn't worry about what we're going to do and what we're not going to do. We'll be just fine," said Billy, coming to Sophia's defense.

"Alight. Keep telling yourself that. See you three all-stars at the Instrumental fields for the next challenge I'll win."

And with that, Graham patted Billy's shoulder and led his silent group away from their table.

"Sports! That's something we know about."

"Something we know_ a lot_ about, baby," agreed Billy. "Look at me. For _real_."

Sophia, who already knew what they were playing, gave them a look that read, 'really, now?'

Billy, having noticed this, asked, "What's with the look? Do you honestly think we don't know our sports? Look at us. Look. At. Us. We're two fully grown men who live, breathe, and eat this kind of stuff up."

"Really? You know what Quidditch is?"

Billy and Nick, having been taken aback, shared a look between themselves.

"What the _hell_ is Quidditch?" Nick soon asked, perplexed.

Sophia sighed and shook her head as an amused smile graced her lips. These two had a lot to learn if they were going to succeed in the next challenge.


	4. Hufflepuff on Three

Since the bug challenge, Sophia had shone Billy and Nick the first four _Harry Potter_ films. The poor men didn't know what on Earth she was talking about. They just hummed and nodded their heads when she explained the rules of Quidditch. But the way their eyes glossed over in confusion whenever a round was played let her know that they were lost. They even asked questions ranging from "who the hell is The Boy Who Lived?" to "how is that weird face guy living off of Professor Quirrell's head?" Sophia gladly answered their questions, making sure to sum it up in Muggle terms.

Sophia wished she could say that she'd taught them well. But, to be honest, she still had her doubts. In fact, they still had trouble remembering the name of the wizarding sport.

She'd always wanted to play Quidditch, and now here she was. Doing something that she loved to become an employee of Google. When the day arrived, Sophia was more than ready to begin.

To prepare for the best challenge ever, Sophia traded in her usual pair of glasses for her sports glasses. She then pulled her hair into a ponytail, put on her Gryffindor socks, and wore her Golden Snitch earrings. For the final touch, Sophia took her eyeliner and drew a tinny lightning bolt on her forehead.

Once done, Sophia gave her work one last look, nodding her head in satisfaction. She'd really outdid herself, if she said so herself. Sophia smiled. Today was going to be totally awesome.

* * *

"Um, what the frock is on your face?" said Neha once Sophia met up with the rest of her team.

Sophia, confused, raised an eyebrow. "Eyes? A nose? Lips? The skin which keeps blood inside of my body? What else would there be?"

Neha rolled her eyes. "No, genius. That black, zigzag thing."

Once clarified, Sophia realized what her teammate was talking about. "Oh, that? That's my scar."

Lyle gave an amused smile while Neha and the others looked at Sophia like she'd grown four extra heads.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"That's right. I'm Harry freakin' Potter."

Before the conversation could go any further, Lyle began passing out their brooms. "Alright! Here we go. We got some sick Nimbus 2000s up in here! What?!"

When Sophia took her plastic broom, Billy and Nick came rushing in, excited for a game they were still a bit iffy on. Billy, who had a red bandanna tied around his head, stood next to Yo-Yo, Nick at his right. "Yeah! Who's ready for some blood and dirt?" The older intern held up one of his large hands for Yo-Yo to slap. When Yo-Yo stared at it instead of giving him what he wanted, Billy said, "Alright. Great excitement, guys. Let's keep it up. Wait. What are we suppose to do with these?" asked Billy, perplexed, when Lyle gave him and Nick their brooms.

"You need to sit on them while you play the game," explained Sophia. "You know, like they did in the films?"

"Oh, right. Right. I got ya, my sista."

No. He totally didn't. Sophia could tell they knew jack squat despite what she had already told them.

"Okay, guys. Since only six people can play during the Quidditch match, the leaders have all been asked to sit this one out. Yay!" said Lyle, all excitement gone.

Sophia's face fell. Poor Lyle. She could tell how upset he was that he wouldn't be able to play.

"Okay, so rules." Lyle took a deep breath. "The beaters hit the Bluddgers at the Chasers before they can get the Quaffle through the three rings. No flagging, no blagging, no bumphing, no haversacking. I don't want to see any Quaffle-pocking. No Imperius cursing, no Confundus Charms. In the unlikely event of a Dementor attack, use a Patronus Charm. I recommend the stag, but that's a personal decision."

"Lyle, Lyle. These beautiful idiots have no idea what you're talking about," interrupted Neha. She pointed at Billy and Nick before continuing with, "Use your Muggle words, come on."

"Actually, that's unnecessary. I already told them in Muggle how to play," said Sophia as she leaned into her broom.

"You did?"

"Yeah. Tell them, guys."

"Well, based on what Miss Sophia has told us, we need to throw the ball through those hoops and not let the red balls stop us."

"Basically," said Sophia, a smug grin on her lips, chest puffed out like a proud mama bird. "I told them it's like a mix between dodge ball and soccer, only without trade outs and knock outs."

"That about sums it up. Alright, people. Brooms in." Once everyone had put their brooms in the center, Lyle said, "Hufflepuff on three. One, two, three."

"Hufflepuff!" 'Team Lyle' shouted in unison.

As they ready themselves to enter the makeshift arena, Nick blurted out, "What the _hell_ is a Hufflepuff?"

* * *

Sophia wished she could say that the Quidditch match went well, but, alas, she could not.

It all started when the team entered the field, ready to play against Graham's team. Sophia could hardly wait to beat the holy, living crap out of him. When the whistle was blown, the opposing teams charged into battle, eyes set on the balls in the center of the field.

Neha was able to grab a Bluddger while two of Graham's teammates got ahold of the other red ball as well as the Quaffle. Sophia began chasing after the Quaffle, trying to stop them from scoring. Even though she was use to difficult sports, it was a much harder task than it should have been. If only her team wasn't confused or actually cared to pay any attention to their surroundings.

Before she knew it, Graham had scored the first goal of the entire game.

_Shoot._

That cost them ten points.

Determined not to let it happen again, Sophia bumped up her competitive side. She was unwilling to let another Quaffle pass through one of her team's rings.

When the Quaffle was put back into play, Sophia began chasing anyone who wore the color blue. She was aware that Billy and Nick still, despite being told the basics, had no idea what was going on. Every time she passed them, they looked like two puppies abandoned in the middle of nowhere. It was then that she realized that the people she'd been stuck with for the summer had already given up. And the second. . . third goal hadn't been scored yet.

Finally, Sophia was able to get ahold of the Quaffle after throwing a Bluddger at the girl who was carrying it.

"Sophia!" called Neha.

Sophia turned and threw the Quaffle at Neha, in turn, tossed it to a Not Paying Attention Stuart. Stuart, who had been hit on the side of his head, looked at Neha, eyes narrowed in a glare. "What the heck was that?"

"The Quaffle, you idiot! GRAB THE FREAKING QUAFFLE!" Sophia screamed so loud she felt her throat run raw. She resumed running when the blonde regained possession of the ball.

When Sophia finally caught up to the blonde girl, she saw a flash of yellow. It hit her, hard, in the face, knocking her down on her butt. Thankfully, Sophia's sports glasses protected her eyes, but crap, that really hurt. Getting back on her wobbly feet, Sophia groaned, "My giant, blue head."

The ref, Sid, blew his whistle. "Hey! Keep your broom between your legs before you hurt someone else."

"Sorry! Broom between legs," apologized Billy, the one who was called on. "You okay, Miss Sophia?"

Sophia gave a thumbs up before jumping back into the game, all the while trying to regain her bearings.

Since Sophia was seeing spots, she was finding it harder to play the game to her best abilities.

Not even three minutes later, Billy called for a timeout, brining the team into a huddle.

"It's over, guys," said Neha as soon as they'd formed a circle on their half of the field.

"Yeah, our team's a joke," agreed Stuart, taking his beanie off of his head. "Sophia can't even walk without tripping over her feet."

"Yeah, only because Billy hit her in the face, and she was the only decent player we had."

"Pish. Nonsense. She's fine. Right, Sophia?" asked Billy, looking at the hunched over young adult.

Sophia's response was, "I can't feel my face."

Neha looked at Billy as if to say, 'see?!'

"Okay, so she's a little numb-"

"A _little_? Look at her face! It looks like she has a fucking sunburn," said Stuart, motioning one of his hands towards Sophia's face.

"Hey? Is it just me, or does it look like it's snowing crack?" asked Sophia, blinking her eyes to clear her vision.

"I have to agree with Stuart. Our team _is_ a joke. A _very_ big joke," said Yo-Yo, drearily.

"Well, I'm not laughing. What about you, Billy?" Nick asked his friend.

"_Hell_ no."

"Listen. We need to get our minds right and start believing."

Catching on to what his friend was trying to get across, Billy decided to add his own two cents. "This reminds me of a little girl who had to get her head right and start believing. A little girl who was from a steel town who had the dream to dance. No one believed in that welder girl, but thank goodness she believed in herself."

"Are you talking about _Flashdance_? The movie from the 80's?" said Stuart, not getting what Billy was trying to get through their heads.

"Damn right I am. That's what I'm talking about. The deck was stacked against Alex, and you want to know how she overcame those odds? By believing in herself and trying. She had to become a maniac."

"Have any of you been called a 'maniac'? Maybe because you were a little bit different?" asked Nick.

Sophia raised her hand, head dropping over her chest. It gave her the appearance of someone saying, 'right on!'

"My mom calls me a maniac every night when I tell her I love her," admitted Yo-Yo.

"Of course she does, Yo-Yo! You are a little bit. In a good way! And guess what? That old Bill Gates? People called him a maniac, too."

"No question," agreed Billy.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone ever called him a _maniac_," said Neha, the others agreeing with her as well.

"I just called him a maniac!" argued Nick.

"Okay, damnit, guys! You're getting off the point here. She had to strip down to nothing. Had to sit in that chair and arch her back, and she had to pull the chain to nowhere and douse herself with _water_!"

"And where did that water come from?" asked Nick.

"Who knows?!"

"It came from her_ belief_ that it was _there_!"

"She believed so hard that she found herself with an audition at the dance school. And she spun. _Oh_, and she spun. And she spun and she spun and she spun and she spun herself into that dance school, and she spun herself into our hearts. In the second half of this 'sport,' can't we all be that little welder girl who wants to be something more?

"Now look. I know you guys aren't excited that we're on your team. But we're here. Guys, we're in this thing together. So I'm asking you: believe in yourselves. _Believe_ in each other. Let's put on our leg warmers, and let's dance our butts off."

Inspired by their speech, the teammates began to change during that special moment. A moment where they all somehow figured out that yes, they were stuck with each other, but they were in it _together._

"Now, come here, you little, lovable maniacs. Get in here," said Nick, brining the group back to reality.

"Now, I've got a plan that would make Bear Bryan smile," said Billy as the team huddled up.

"I have _no_ idea who that is, but we're listening," said Neha.

And thus began the unbreakable bond of Team Lyle.

* * *

When the game was back in play, Lyle's team assumed their positions, finally committed to the game. When Graham's team snatched the Quaffle, Billy blocked it from being passed. Sophia, who now had regained her sight and balance, caught the ball, ran, tossed it to Stuart who then tossed it to Neha.

Neha, after catching the Quaffle, began to run toward the enemy's side. When she saw Sophia was open, she tossed it back. She then threw it at Nick who, in turn, scored them their first goal of the game. Needless to say, Team Lyle had a small celebration before getting back into the game.

Throughout the second half, they came together as a team. They had begun to communicate the way they should have since day one, scoring goal after goal. In almost no time, they were tied seventy to seventy with Graham's team.

"Tied game!" exclaimed Sid, excited by how the match had turned out. And he wasn't the only one.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Sophia noticed something blindingly gold. Turning her head towards the sight, Sophia felt her heart stop for a fraction of a second. It was the Snitch.

"SNITCH!" shouted Lyle from the sidelines, gaining the attention of the playing teams.

Without giving it another thought, Sophia took off, running full speed. She knew it wouldn't be an easy feat, since the job of the Snitch was to actually fly - or in this case, run - away from the Seekers.

The Snitch, although fast, was no match for Sophia's speed. Even if she didn't look like it, she was known to have an amazing running pace. As she ran after the man wearing the gold body suit, people cheered her on, rooting for her to catch him. In no time, Sophia caught up to him, hand extended. When she was half a foot away, she leapt at him, screaming from effort as she did so. In the process, she ended up tackling him to the ground, landing on top of him as they fell.

Meanwhile, the crowd and players became silent. Their eyes remained intensely focused on the pile of bodies near 'Hufflepuff's' hoops. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sophia pushed herself off of the Snitch. She stumbled over herself as she did so, arm held high up in the air as she exclaimed, "I caught it! I caught the Snitch!"

The crowd went wild, roaring as her teammates cheered, embracing each other. Eventually, they began running towards Sophia. The young woman laughed as she tried getting back on her feet, failing each time she attempted so. When she succeeded, her team crashed into her, gripping her in a tight embrace. As soon as they'd grabbed her in a hug, Yo-Yo and Stuart picked her off of the ground and placed her on their shoulders.

It was in that moment that Sophia felt like they'd finally succeed as a team. She knew that even if they'd lost they still would have been as close as they were now. Winning was just a bonus.

As they carried her away, Sophia called down to the man she'd tackled, "Are you okay?"

The man looked up at Sophia, looking her straight in her blue gaze as he replied, "Oh, yeah. The Snitch is _fine_."

"Sorry!"

* * *

Sometime later, a certain someone she hadn't seen since December appeared. It was her cousin, April.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" asked Sophia as she and her cousin hugged.

"What? Can't I say 'hi' to my favorite girl cousin?"

Sophia grinned. "I'm your only girl cousin, April."

"You're still my favorite. Congratulations on winning the challenge, by the way."

"Thanks. It was a team effort."

"I bet." April's brown gaze shifted towards Sophia's team. "So, what are your group members' names?"

Sophia smiled as she introduced her team one by one. April, in turn, shook each of their hands, a beaming smile on her face. When she was introduced to Billy, he gripped her hand tighter than the others, shaking it at the speed of light.

"Hey. April, was it?"

"Yes. That's correct."

"Well, April. It's a pleasure to meet a lovely, young lady such as yourself."

April chuckled. "Well, that's very kind of you, Billy, but I'm twenty-seven."

"Twenty-seven? That's nothing. You still have plenty days of youth left. In fact, you don't look a day over twenty-four."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Flirt." April gave him a wink, returning his flirting with ease. "Anyway. Sophia. I was wondering if I could buy you and your team dinner to celebrate your victory." April looked at the others. "If that's alright with you all?"

Before any of them could speak up, Billy said, "Yeah. Of course. We'd love to go out with a generous and considerate person, such as yourself."

"Great! Want to meet up at my office around seven o'clock tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Well, then. Sounds like we've got a date." Glancing at her watch, April frowned. Looking back up at Sophia, the dirty-blonde gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but I've got to get back to work. See you tonight?"

"You bet," agreed Sophia.

After giving Sophia another hug, she waved farewell and left for the Google building. Once she was out of sight, Billy - his sight fixed on April's retreating form- asked, "Who was that lovely woman?"

Sending him an are-you-for-real look, Sophia slowly answered, "That, my dear Billy, was my cousin."

"Um, may I ask where her office is?" asked Stuart, wanting to know where they'd be eating later that evening.

Sophia looked at Stuart, her eyes sparkling with pride as she said, "In Google Translation. She's the head of her department."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You're fluent in eleven languages?" asked Nick, making sure he'd heard correctly.

"Twelve, actually," corrected April, an amused grin on her face as she shifted her food with her plastic fork.

"Tell them what they are, Ape," begged Sophia, proud of her cousin's talent.

"I don't know. . . ." When she saw the curious looks she was getting, April finally gave in. "Okay. English, obviously. Then there's Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, and Hebrew. Currently, I'm learning American Sign Language. Come to think of it, it should have been one of the first languages I studied."

"Impressive," said Billy. "I mean, that's amazing. All I can speak is English and Mandarin."

April raised a dark eyebrow. "Oh, a fellow linguist? How extraordinary."

Sophia held a hand in front of her mouth to hide the amused smile she had. April was totally into Billy as Billy was with her. She wouldn't be this flirty or banter with the man if she wasn't.

"This Mediterranean food is delicious, ma'am," said Yo-Yo, holding up his half-empty plate.

"I know, isn't it? And you don't need to call me 'ma'am,' sweetie. April will do just fine." Taking a bit of her pita bread, a hand in front of her mouth, April said, "This is one of my favorite restaurants. The people who own it are good friends of mine. I wish I could you had gotten the full experience, but by the time we would have arrived they would have been closed."

"It's alright. This is fine," reassured Stuart, tearing pieces of his bread apart.

April gave the intern a grateful smile. "Now, as much as I've enjoyed this, it's getting late. I need to head home. I've got an early meeting tomorrow morning."

Getting the message, April's guests started throwing away unwanted trash. Once cleaned up, the interns began to thank April once again for the meal.

"It was my pleasure," said April, chin resting on her right palm, a tiny grin framed by her ruby-red lips. As Sophia left with the others, April called out, "Hey, Soph? Can you stay here for another minute?"

"Sure." After closing the door, Sophia re-entered the office. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say how proud of you I am. You looked like you had fun. Well, at least for the second half."

Sophia gave a cheek-to-cheek grin. "Yeah, I did."

April uncrossed her long, smooth legs and walked up to her cousin to give her one last hug. "See you later, alright?"

Sophia nodded her head.

"Oh! And, Sophia?" When Sophia turned to face her, April asked, "Does Billy have a girlfriend?"

She couldn't help but laugh, which increased in volume at the sight of her cousin's face.

"He does, doesn't he?"

When Sophia was finally able to catch her breath, she choked out, "No. . . . No. . . . I don't think he. . . he does." Sophia raised a brow. "Are you trying to tell me you're interested?"

April gave a mischievous smile. "Of course not, my dear. That would mean I'd be breaking company rules."

After receiving a wink from April, Sophia left for her apartment, happy with how her day had played out.


End file.
